Swimming/diving goggle structure

ABSTRACT

A swimming/diving goggle structure is disclosed, which comprises a spectacle frame, a mask, two connecting elements and an elastic strap. At least one skirt portion of the mask surrounds at least one edge of the spectacle frame. The connecting elements are disposed on two sides of the spectacle frame respectively. Each of two ends of the elastic strap has a connecting portion. One of each connecting element and each connecting portion has at least one protrusion; the other has at least one hole for the at least one protrusion to pass therethrough and thereby, the connecting element and the connecting portion are connected.

This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No.100131632 filed on Sep. 2, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference herein in their entirety.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a swimming/diving goggle structure, andmore particularly, to a swimming/diving goggle structure which allowsfor the easy adjustment of the length of a head strap during watersports.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

Swimming, snorkeling and diving are all popular water sports. Duringthese water sports, a swimming/diving goggle is usually worn to protectthe user's eyes from being exposed to seawater or other foreign mattersand to maintain a clear vision in the water. With improvement of thequality of life, requirements on swimming/diving goggles in terms ofconvenience in use and comfortableness become ever heightened, soinnovative technologies that are related to various swimming/divinggoggles have been gradually developing.

However, due to inexperience or use as rentals, most users have toadjust the length of a head strap before wearing a swimming/divinggoggle in a water sport. The adjustment of the conventional head strapis difficult and complex, and because of the elastic nature of the headstrap, the user often applies a great force to the head strapunintentionally over tightening; or for the purpose of sealing theuser's face against entry of the water, the user often subconsciouslypresses the goggle towards the face and displaces the goggle laterallyin expectation of a tight sealing effect like what is provided by asuction cup. However, this may cause the user to gradually feeluncomfortable during the sport. Furthermore, when the user feelsuncomfortable during the sport (e.g., in the water), the adjustment ofthe goggle in the water will become inconvenient and may lead todangers.

Accordingly, it is important to provide a swimming/diving gogglestructure that can be adjusted easily according to the different headsizes of different users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the aforesaid problem, an objective of the present invention isto provide a swimming/diving goggle structure, which allows for the easyadjustment to the length of the head strap so that the goggle structurecan be worn by the user with the desired length, thus overcoming theproblem that the user would gradually feel uncomfortable during a watersport.

The present invention provides a swimming/diving goggle structure, whichcomprises a spectacle frame, a mask, two connecting elements and anelastic strap. The spectacle frame has at least one edge and two sides.The mask has at least one skirt portion surrounding the at least oneedge. The two connecting elements are respectively disposed on the twosides. The elastic strap has a connecting portion at each end of theelastic strap respectively, and each of the connecting portions connectsto each of the connecting elements. Each of the connecting elements hasat least one protrusion, and each of the connecting portions has atleast one hole through which the at least one protrusion fits.

The present invention further provides a swimming/diving gogglestructure, which comprises a spectacle frame, a mask and an elasticstrap. The spectacle frame has at least one edge and two sides, and eachof the sides has a hole. The mask has at least one skirt portionsurrounding the at least one edge. The elastic strap has at least oneprotrusion at each end of the elastic strap respectively, and the atleast one protrusion fits through each of the holes.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a swimming/diving goggle structureaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged view of the swimming/diving gogglestructure according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a partial enlarged view of a swimming/diving goggle structureaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic exploded view of connecting elements of theswimming/diving goggle structure according to the second embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3C is a schematic view of the connecting elements of theswimming/diving goggle structure according to the second embodiment ofthe present invention when being combined together;

FIG. 3D is a schematic view illustrating the connecting elementsembedded to sides of a spectacle frame according to the secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a swimming/diving goggle structureaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged view of the swimming/diving gogglestructure according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a swimming/diving goggle structureaccording to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a swimming/diving goggle structureaccording to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following descriptions, the present invention will be explainedwith reference to embodiments thereof. However, the description of theseembodiments is only for the purpose of illustration rather than to limitthe present invention. It shall be appreciated that in the followingembodiments and the attached drawings, elements not directly related tothe present invention are omitted from depiction. The dimensional andpositional relationships among the individual elements in the attacheddrawings are illustrated only for the ease of understanding but not tolimit the actual scale and sizes.

A first embodiment of the present invention is a swimming/diving gogglestructure 1. A perspective schematic view of the overall swimming/divinggoggle structure 1 is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a partially enlargedview of FIG. 1. The swimming/diving goggle structure 1 comprises aspectacle frame 11, a mask 13, two connecting elements 15 and an elasticstrap 17.

The spectacle frame 11 has an edge 111, two sides 113, and two lenses115 that are disposed within the spectacle frame. The mask 13 has askirt portion 131 and a nasal mask portion 133. The skirt portion 131surrounds the edge 111 of the spectacle frame 11, while the nasal maskportion 133 extends downward from a central region of the skirt portion131 to form a projecting space for accommodating a nose.

As shown, the two connecting elements 15 are disposed on the two sides113 of the spectacle frame 11 respectively. In this embodiment, thespectacle frame 11 and the two connecting elements 15 are integrallyformed. Each of the connecting elements 15 has a plurality ofprotrusions 151.

The elastic strap 17 has a connecting portion 171 at each end 170 of theelastic strap 17 respectively, and each of the connecting portions 171connects to one of the connecting elements 15. In this embodiment, theconnecting portions 171 of the elastic strap 17 have a hole 172 formedat the two ends 170 respectively for one of the protrusions 151 to fittherethrough so that the two ends 170 of the elastic strap 17 are fixedto the two sides 113 of the spectacle frame 11 respectively. Users canselect one of the protrusions 151 to mate with one of the holes 172 ofthe connecting portions 171 according to their head sizes. Specifically,for a user with a smaller head size, each of the holes 172 may be matedwith one of the protrusions 151 that is disposed closer to the front endof the corresponding connecting element 15; and for a user with a largerhead size, each of the holes 172 may be mated with one of theprotrusions 151 that is disposed further from the front end of thecorresponding connecting element 15. Furthermore, although both sidescan be adjusted, users may also adjust only one of the sides as needed.

To ensure that the holes 172 of the elastic strap 17 are securely matedwith the protrusions 151, some of the protrusions 151 (i.e., the lastfour protrusions 151 as shown) are formed as hooks bending forwardswhile the protrusion 151 in the forefront is formed as a hook bendingbackwards to prevent the elastic strap 17 from sliding off in thisembodiment. Other implementations of the protrusions may also be devisedby people skilled in the art to securely mate the holes of the elasticstrap with the protrusions.

The mask of the swimming/diving goggle structure of the presentinvention is made of a flexible material such as thermoplastic rubber(TPR), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE),polyvinyl chloride (PVC), silicone rubber, natural rubber, rubber orcombinations thereof. The aforesaid materials may be replaced with othermaterials by those of ordinary skill in the art, and the presentinvention has no limitations thereon. The spectacle frame of theswimming/diving goggle structure of the present invention is made of amaterial such as polycarbonate (PC), paraformaldehyde, acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene (ABS) or polypropylene.

A second embodiment of the present invention is also a swimming/divinggoggle structure 3, which is partially shown in FIG. 3A. Theswimming/diving goggle structure 3 of the second embodiment alsocomprises a spectacle frame 31, a mask 33, two connecting elements 35and an elastic strap 37. Most of the technical features of the secondembodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and thus, will not be further described herein. However, itshall be particularly appreciated that the second embodiment differsfrom the first embodiment mainly in the structure of the connectingelements 35, as well as the connectional relationships between theconnecting elements 35 and the spectacle frame 31.

FIG. 3B is a schematic exploded view of the connecting elements 35 ofthis embodiment, and FIG. 3C is a schematic view of the connectingelements 35 when being combined together. As shown in the two figures,each of the connecting elements 35 has a first side part 35 a and asecond side part 35 b with structures that can be snap-fitted with eachother. In other implementations of the present invention, the first sidepart and the second side part may be combined in other ways, and each ofthe connecting elements may not necessarily be divided into a first sidepart and a second side part but may also be integrally formed.

A status in which the first side parts 35 a and the second side parts 35b are combined into the connecting elements 35 is as shown in FIG. 3D.Each of two sides 313 of the spectacle frame 31 has a chute 317, andeach of the connecting elements 35 has a slide 353 at the bottomthereof. Each of the slides 353 is slidably engaged with one of thechutes 317 so that the two connecting elements 35 are disposed on thetwo sides 313 respectively.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3A, the elastic strap 37 of thisembodiment further has slot holes dispersed therein to enhanceextensibility of the elastic strap 37 in a particular direction,thereby, improving the users' comfortableness.

A third embodiment of the present invention is also a swimming/divinggoggle structure. FIG. 4 illustrates an overall perspective schematicview of a swimming/diving goggle structure 4. FIG. 5 is a partiallyenlarged view of FIG. 4. The swimming/diving goggle structure 4 of thethird embodiment also comprises a spectacle frame 41, a mask 43, twoconnecting elements 45 and an elastic strap 47. Most of the technicalfeature of the third embodiment are the same as those of the aforesaidembodiments, and thus, will not be further described herein. However, itshall be particularly appreciated that the third embodiment differs fromthe first embodiment and the second embodiment in the following ways: asshown, two ends 470 of the elastic strap 47 are each provided with arigid ring 473 (equivalent to the holes described in the aforesaidembodiments) so that one of a plurality of protrusions 451 of thecorresponding connecting element 45 fits through the rigid ring 473.

The rigid ring 473 of this embodiment is a rectangular form; however, inother implementations, other forms may also be readily devised by peopleskilled in the art such as a circular shape, an elliptic shape or apolygonal shape, although the form and the structure of the rigid ring473 are not limited thereto. Furthermore, the rigid ring may be made ofany rigid material, for example, a metal material or a rigid plasticmaterial such as polycarbonate (PC) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS).

A fourth embodiment of the present invention is also a swimming/divinggoggle structure. FIG. 6 illustrates the swimming/diving gogglestructure 6 of the fourth embodiment, which also comprises a spectacleframe 61, a mask 63, two connecting elements 65 and an elastic strap 67.Most of the technical features of the fourth embodiment are the same asthose of the aforesaid embodiments, and thus, will not be furtherdescribed herein. However, it shall be particularly appreciated that thefourth embodiment differs from the aforesaid embodiments in thefollowing way: in all of the aforesaid embodiments, a single hole isformed at each end of the elastic strap to selectively mate with one ofthe plurality of protrusions of the corresponding connecting element onthe spectacle frame. However, as shown in FIG. 6, each connectingelement 65 of this embodiment has only a single protrusion 651, andconnecting portions 671 at two ends 670 of the elastic strap 67 are eachformed with a plurality of holes 672.

A fifth embodiment of the present invention is also a swimming/divinggoggle structure 7; an overall perspective schematic view of which isshown in FIG. 7. The swimming/diving goggle structure 7 comprises aspectacle frame 71, a mask 73 and an elastic strap 77.

The spectacle frame 71 has an edge 711, two sides 713, and two lenses715 that are disposed within the spectacle frame 71. Each of the sides713 has a hole 719. The mask 73 has a skirt portion 731 and a nasal maskportion 733. The skirt portion 731 surrounds the edge 711 of thespectacle frame 71, while the nasal mask portion 733 extends downwardfrom a central region of the skirt portion 731 to form a projectingspace for accommodating a nose.

In this embodiment, the elastic strap 77 has a plurality of protrusions775 at each end 770 thereof respectively so that the user can choose oneof the protrusions 775 to fit through the hole 719.

The aforesaid embodiments all relate to a swimming/diving gogglestructure for use in diving or snorkeling; however, the swimming/divinggoggle structure is not merely limited to use in diving or snorkeling,but is applicable to any cases where waterproofing is desired.Furthermore, the nasal mask portion may also be optionally omitted fromthe swimming/diving goggle structure so that the swimming/diving gogglestructure can apply in cases where waterproofing is unnecessary for theuser's nose, for example in the case of a common swimming goggle. Forexample, apart from the elimination of the nasal mask portion, thegoggle structure of a swimming goggle also differs from the aforesaidembodiments in that the spectacle frame of such a goggle structure hastwo edges, and the mask has two skirt portions which surround the twoedges respectively. Other technical features are mostly the same asthose of the aforesaid embodiments, and thus, will not be furtherdescribed herein.

According to the aforesaid embodiments, other implementations may bereadily devised by people skilled in the art. For example, the elasticstrap or the sides of the spectacle frame may be fixed through thecooperation of a protrusion(s) and a hole(s). Neither the positions northe numbers of the protrusion(s) and the hole(s) is limited to what isdescribed in the aforesaid embodiments. Because the length of the headstrap is adjusted through the adjustment of the position(s) where theprotrusion(s) fits through the hole(s), the present invention not onlyallows for the easy adjustment but also reduces the number of membersfor fixing the head strap of the goggle structure, thereby, reducing themanufacturing cost and increasing the competitive power of the product.Moreover, because the head strap of the present invention is fixed in adifferent way compared to the prior art, the head strap can be made of amaterial that is easily extendable and elastic, as well as have a largethickness to enhance the user's comfort.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

1. A swimming/diving goggle structure, comprising: a spectacle frame,having at least one edge and two sides; a mask, having at least oneskirt portion surrounding the at least one edge; two connectingelements, being respectively disposed on the two sides; and an elasticstrap, having a connecting portion at each end of the elastic straprespectively, and each of the connecting portions connecting to one ofthe connecting elements; wherein each of the connecting elements has atleast one protrusion, and each of the connecting portions has at leastone hole through which the at least one protrusion fits.
 2. Theswimming/diving goggle structure of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprotrusion includes a plurality of protrusions, the at least one holeincludes one hole, and one of the protrusions fits through the hole. 3.The swimming/diving goggle structure of claim 1, wherein the at leastone protrusion includes one protrusion, the at least one hole includes aplurality of holes, and the protrusion fits through one of the holes. 4.The swimming/diving goggle structure of claim 1, wherein the maskfurther has a nasal mask portion extending downwardly from the at leastone skirt portion.
 5. The swimming/diving goggle structure of claim 1,wherein the spectacle frame and the two connecting elements areintegrally formed.
 6. The swimming/diving goggle structure of claim 1,wherein each of the two sides has a chute, each of the two connectingelements has a slide, each of the slides is engaged with the chute, andthereby the two connecting elements are disposed on the two sidesrespectively.
 7. The swimming/diving goggle structure of claim 1,wherein a material of the elastic strap comprises one of thermoplasticelastomer (TPE), thermoplastic rubber (TPR), polyvinyl chloride (PVC),silicone rubber and natural rubber.
 8. The swimming/diving gogglestructure of claim 1, wherein each of the connecting portions has arigid ring disposed at each of the ends of the elastic strap.
 9. Aswimming/diving goggle structure, comprising: a spectacle frame, havingat least one edge and two sides, and each of the sides having a hole; amask, having at least one skirt portion surrounding the at least oneedge; and an elastic strap, having at least one protrusion at each endof the elastic strap respectively, and the at least one protrusionfitting through each of the holes.
 10. The swimming/diving gogglestructure of claim 9, wherein the at least one protrusion includes aplurality of protrusions, and one of the protrusions fits through eachof the holes.
 11. The swimming/diving goggle structure of claim 9,wherein the mask further has a nasal mask portion extending downwardlyfrom the at least one skirt portion.
 12. The swimming/diving gogglestructure of claim 9, wherein a material of the elastic strap comprisesone of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), thermoplastic rubber (TPR),polyvinyl chloride (PVC), silicone rubber and natural rubber.